Live Nation hired a lawyer closely connected to Donald Trump as it worked to persuade the US Department of Justice to settle its antitrust lawsuit against the company, according to a new Wall Street Journal investigation.
The report identifies the lawyer as James McDonald of the firm Sullivan & Cromwell, who had represented Trump in some of his personal legal battles but had little antitrust experience of his own. The hire came as Live Nation was already known to be working with lobbyists close to Trump to pressure the government toward a settlement of the case, first filed in 2024 over allegations that Live Nation and its Ticketmaster subsidiary operate an unlawful monopoly, even as the company continued expanding its venue holdings abroad, buying into Prague's O2 arena complex earlier this month.
According to the Journal, many DOJ officials viewed the White House's involvement in the case as "extreme," even within an administration they described as one where the president has openly pressured law enforcement over perceived enemies. The DOJ settled the case in March, while it was already at trial, though several individual states involved in the litigation declined to join and went on to convince a jury that Live Nation and Ticketmaster do operate an unlawful monopoly.
The settlement is now under review by the judge overseeing the case, and Live Nation has had to disclose its communications with the DOJ and wider government as part of that process. Those filings revealed that CEO Michael Rapino met with Trump in February to discuss the litigation, and that Trump later called the DOJ directly to push for a settlement. Live Nation's EVP of corporate and regulatory affairs, Dan Wall, defended the company's approach, saying it went above the antitrust division only "because no one there would speak to us."
The case's biggest unresolved question, whether Live Nation will be forced to divest Ticketmaster and reverse their 2010 merger, remains before the court, with the judge expected to rule on remedies by early October. The report lands amid a monthslong pattern in which Live Nation has resisted sharing more detail about the settlement, even as it separately settled a lawsuit over a fan's brain injury at a Luke Bryan concert.
The facts
- Hired lawyer James McDonald, who had represented Trump personally
- DOJ settled the antitrust case in March, mid-trial
- Several states declined the settlement and won a jury monopoly verdict
- CEO Michael Rapino met Trump in February to discuss the case
- Judge expected to rule on remedies by early October
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